Measures of Time
by Granger-Danger-62442
Summary: Because life has it's own sort of music.
1. misterioso

**Basically, this will be a series of drabbles, that I'll update as time permits. Stories will range from Nine, Ten, and may dabble in TenToo. I'll also be jumping in and out of canon whenever the urge deems appropriate.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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_**misterioso: mysteriously**_

The first time she meets him, Rose really isn't in a position to take it all in. She manages to catch a glimpse of dark hair, rather large ears, and the most manic grin she thinks she's ever seen. After that, all she knows is that she's running, faster than she's ever done, pulled along by this mysterious man she's only just met. She can't say it's the first time it's happened, but she does know that, instead of running away, she's running forward.

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**Reviews are always lovely.**


	2. alla breve

_**alla breve: in cut-time; two beats per measure, or the equivalent thereof**_

She's still not sure she believes him, this "man-with-two-hearts." After all, this could be some elaborate set-up, a prank to make her look the idiot. (An elaborate one at that, though, she can't help but think.) This man who calls himself the 'Doctor'. All Rose wants to know is, Doctor who? Then he takes her hand in his, and she feels the Earth _turn_.

Maybe she's beginning to understand.


	3. grave

**_grave: slowly and seriously_**

He's not exactly cheerful, this Doctor of hers. He doesn't look sad, at least, not when she can catch him, but sometimes he just gets this look. Brooding. That's what it is. He crawls under the console, ostensibly checking bits of the TARDIS, and broods. Whenever this happens, Rose finds ways to busy herself, careful to humor him lest he become completely insufferable. Once, she calls him on it, and unlike every previous attempt, he doesn't bite her head off. Instead, to Rose's complete astonishment, he breaks into a wide grin. "Rose Tyler." And that's all he says, returning to his tinkering, and leaving Rose to ponder in bemusement.


	4. dolore

_**dolore: pain, distress, sorrow, grief**_

He takes her to the end of the world. Not the most conventional, as first dates go, but definitely memorable. Together, they sort out the mess, and all is as it should be. Afterwards, as they walk down the busy sidewalk, the Doctor surprises Rose with a rare display of openness: he tells her of his people. Time Lords, they're called. Or were; he's the last of them. He confesses the reason he's been on his own for so long, and some of the darkness seems to leak out of him. For just a moment, he is just impossibly old, and oh so very tired. Rose can feel her heart breaking, as she looks at this Doctor she's only just met, and the words slip through without her permission.

"There's me."

The Doctor cuts his eyes away. A part of him wants to laugh, wants to shake her until she snaps out of this foolish naivety. A twenty-something year old girl, fix lifetimes of war and suffering? He meets her gaze, offering a wry smile in consolation. The grin he receives is sad, not quite understanding. But it's there, and something in his chest eases for it. *Stupid ape*, he thinks, not unkindly. She'd go mad. However, there's a part, somewhere in the back of his mind, that thinks maybe, just maybe, he'd be ok with her trying.

Later, as they swap barbed insults and smiles over chips, Rose thinks that she wouldn't mind, either.

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Come on now. I know some of you crazy folk are reading these. Nothing to say?


	5. tremolando

**_tremolando: trembling_**

_"And the coward survived."_

_"Oh, and I caught your little signal, help me, poor little thing. But there's no one else coming cause there's no one else left."_

_"I am alone in the universe."_

_"Yep."_

_"So are you. We are the same."_

_"We're not the same! I'm not the... No, wait, maybe we are... Yeah, right, yeah, okay. You've got a point 'cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate!"_

...

"It isn't true." Rose perches in the console seat, watching as the Doctor paces around the TARDIS.

He growls slightly. "What isn't?"

"You're not like them."

"Yeah? How would you know?" He snarls, but it lacks bite, tinged more with desperation. "You didn't know me back then, you don't know what I did!"

"No, I didn't, and I don't." Rose stands her ground, arms folded firmly over her chest. "But I do know you now. At least, a little." She amends thoughtfully. "And that's what really matters, innit? The here and now."

He lets out a choked laugh, but doesn't respond, wiping his hand over his face to smother... everything, really. He leans forward, bracing his hands on the console, and is disgusted to note that they're shaking. He can still hear its voice in his head, mocking him, baring the things he's tried for so long to bury. It lingers, mingling with voices so achingly familiar, ones he longs to hear again, and knows he never will. Screaming at him, accusing, pleading-

"You know what? Fine. I've said my bit." At her words, the Doctor jerks his head up. "Go ahead, _brood_. God knows you haven't done that in, what, maybe an hour?" Rose slips off the seat, and slides past him into the hallway, making sure to bump into him on the way. "I'm not about to sit here and watch you start blamin' yourself for stuff that isn't your fault." She rounds the corner, her voice trailing after her. "Come and find me when you've stopped feeling sorry for yourself, yeah?"

He blinks after her, thoroughly bewildered. What-

Rose pops back around. "Oh, and I'll be making tea, so you get ten minutes." She smirks. "If you aren't in the kitchen by then, I'll be back, and you'll be getting cold tea dumped all over your sorry little head."

He waits nine and a half minutes, and then goes to find her.


	6. rallentando

**_rallentando: doubtful, delaying_**

The first time Rose meets Captain Jack Harkness, she has to admit, she's smitten. He's charming, handsome, and it doesn't hurt that he saved her life, either. The Doctor, to her extreme amusement, is less than thrilled. Without knowing it, he and Jack begin to form a sort of rivalry over anything and everything. Spaceships, the size of their sonics... her? Rose isn't sure, but she doesn't exactly mind. She knows where her heart lies.

Curiously enough, however, the Doctor doesn't seem to. He's been casting doubtful glances her way every so often, and Rose is sick of it. So when Jack disappears, leaving the Doctor grumbling about resonating concrete, and her waiting around in exasperation, she calls him on it.

"He's like you, only with datin' and dancing."

The Doctor huffs a little, turning away from his concrete with a frown.

"You just assume I don't dance."

"What, are you telling me you do dance?"

He never could resist a challenge. With a huff, the Doctor jumps down from his position at the window. "Alright then, let's have it."

Rose grins, and takes his proffered hands.

...

Later, they find themselves safely back on the TARDIS, plus one Captain Jack.

Rose laughs as the Doctor gives her another twirl, and out of the corner of her eye, she catches Jack's resigned smile. For a moment, she feels bad, watching as his eyes track their movements wistfully.

"Doctor, I think Jack might like this dance."

The Doctor only grins, and she's sees no trace of hesitancy now.

"I'm sure you're right, Rose. I'm absolutely certain." He tugs her closer. "But who with?"


	7. vittoriose

**_vittoriose: victoriously_**

The sad fact about their life in the TARDIS is, as great as they are, (and they're pretty darn good), they rarely ever get off scot-free. Rose can count on one hand the number of times they've actually _won_ without losing someone in the process. It's been worse for the Doctor, and she knows it. He still won't tell her exactly what transpired in his past, what makes him this dark man that he is now, but she knows it almost destroyed him.

"Please," she hears him breathe next to her, clutching her hand almost desperately. "Just give me this. Let me have this one day."

As the golden glow of the nano-genes fades, Rose watches the Doctor slowly approach the child in the gas mask. Her heart goes out to him, the almost painful hope lining his face as he tugs on the device.

With a jubilant cry, the Doctor seizes the boy, lifting him up into the air and spinning around."Yes!" He lets out a wild laugh, casts a beaming grin in her direction. "Just this once, Rose, everyone lives!"

She thinks she might enjoy days like this.


End file.
